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- The new variant of the coronavirus is spreading to countries beyond the UK.
- SA infections exceeded one million.
- Donald Trump signed the Covid relief bill, avoiding a crisis.
A new variant of the coronavirus was detected that was first seen in Britain in several nations, amplifying concerns about its rapid spread, while US President Donald Trump enacted an aid and aid package law. pandemic expenses.
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Middle East and Africa
* Total South African infections surpassed one million on Sunday, days after a new, faster-spreading variant was confirmed in the country.
* Iran reported the lowest daily deaths in more than three months.
Europe
* Hungary and Slovakia were ahead of their neighboring EU countries when vaccinations began on Saturday, a day before deployments in several other countries, while a 101-year-old woman became the first German to receive the vaccine.
* France registered its first case of the new variant.
* Russia approved its main Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, for use by people over the age of 60.
* The delivery of the first shipment of Sinovac vaccine from China to Turkey has been postponed “1-2 days” due to a case at Beijing customs.
Americas
* US President Donald Trump enacted a $ 2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package on Sunday, which returned unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and prevented a federal government shutdown.
* The US government will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday.
* Hamilton Mourão, vice president of Brazil, tested positive.
* Argentina will begin vaccinating its citizens on Tuesday with the recently delivered Sputnik V vaccine.
Pacific Asia
* Beijing tightened Covid-19 restrictions on concerns that mass travel from China during the holiday period could cause an increase in cases in the capital.
* South Korea said it will extend social distancing measures for another six days, until January 3, as it continues to report near-record numbers of new cases each day.
* The Sydney outbreak continued with more than a quarter of a million people locked up as Australia’s largest city awaited news on whether public New Year’s Eve celebrations would be allowed.
* Australian great golfer Greg Norman is back in a hospital in Florida after testing positive.
Medical developments
* Britain’s Department of Health said drug regulator MHRA should have time to carry out its review of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine data, while the Sunday Telegraph reported that the UK plans to launch the vaccine from January 4.
Economic impact
* Global stocks rose Monday after Trump signed into law the pandemic spending and relief package law that he had so far refused to sign.
* The general influx of retail sales on Boxing Day in Britain fell by 60% compared to the previous year, said market researcher Springboard.
* Vietnam’s economic growth slowed this year to its weakest level in at least three decades, government data showed.
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